On April 14, hundreds of students marched toward the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly building in eastern India, escalating a wave of protests against alleged irregularities in the state's civil service recruitment exams. Anti-riot forces were deployed, using water cannons and barricades to hold back the crowd.
The protest in Ranchi, the state capital, is the latest in a series of demonstrations that began late last month over accusations of malpractice in public service exams, including leaked question papers. Protesters are demanding a comprehensive overhaul of the state's examination system, cancellation of certain exams, and a federal police investigation.
Hundreds of police officers were stationed to guard the assembly complex, setting up multiple layers of barbed-wire barricades and deploying surveillance drones after several rounds of talks between student representatives and state authorities failed to yield results. Security forces sprayed water cannons as protesters began climbing over barriers near Jagannath Mandir, about 3 kilometers from the assembly complex.
At least six protesters remain on an indefinite hunger strike, including 33-year-old student leader Devendra Nath Mahto. Mahto, who had been fasting for nine days, was carried on a stretcher as he led the march on April 14. Addressing the crowd, he asserted, "Despite being on a hunger strike, barbed-wire fences will not stop us."
The Jharkhand state government has agreed to cancel the 14th preliminary exam of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and two pending recruitment exams as of late April 13. Three JPSC council members also resigned after being questioned by the state investigating agency.
However, student groups have vowed to continue protesting until the government cancels the Combined Graduate Level exam and hands over the paper-leak investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
This wave of protests comes two weeks after the youth-led "cockroach" movement in New Delhi forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign over a national medical entrance exam paper leak. The online-organized Cockroach Janta Party maintained protests for 36 days before Pradhan stepped down.
